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Chicken "Cacciatore"

When I cook chicken Cacciatore, I usually use a very easy yet very delicious recipe I found on the Azerbaijani Cookbook Blog (a great blog by the way, I follow the Azerbaijani site to practice my Azerbaijani  and find out about new great recipes - but there's also an English version of the blog. Go there! Read it!).

The original Azerbaijani recipe is:

Ərzaqlar:

• Bir ədəd kilo yarımlıq toyuq - tikələrə bölün
• 1 ədəd iri soğan  - 8 yerə bölün
• 2 ədəd quru dəfnə yarpağı
• 2 zoğ təzə rozmarin
• 2 xörək qaşığı kərə yağı - xırda kubiklərə doğrayın
• Yarım kilo pomidor (5-7 ədəd) - soyun, ikiyə bölün, iridirlərsə, hər yarını 3-4 yerə bölün
• Zövqə görə duz və istiot
• Dörtdə bir stəkan zeytun yağı

Hazırlanma Qaydası:

Sobanı 205Cdək qızdırın. Ölçüləri 33 x 22 X 5 sm olan soba istisinə dəyanıqlı tavanı/qabı (mən istiyə dəyanıqlı şüşə qabda bişirirəm).
Buraya əvvəlcə toyuq və soğanı yerləşdirin. Dəfnə yarpağı və rozmarini toyuq və soğanın arasında yeləşidrin. Üstünə kərə yağını yerləşdirin. Pomidorları kəsilmiş tərəfi aşağıda olmaq şərtilə toyuğun ətrafında şəkildə gördüyünüz kimi düznü. Toyuğun üstünə zeytun yağı tökün. Duz və  istiotlayın. Yeməyi sobada toyuğun üstü bir az qızarana və yeməyin suyu çıxanadək bişirin, təxminən bir saat yarım ərzində.

But this time, things are slightly different I had some stomach problems during the last days and didn't feel well at all, so I decided to prepare chicken Cacciatore using no oil or other fat and using whatever I had at home. I really didn't feel like going shopping. So this isn't really Cacciatore, but it's still really good! My changed version of Chicken Cacctiatore is:

For 2 servings

• 2 chicken breasts without skin
• 1 red onion
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
• 100 ml puréed tomatoes (passata)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt
• black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Cut onion and chicken breasts into large pieces. Place chicken and onion in a roasting tin, pour puréed tomatoes over it. Season with basil, salt and black pepper. Add cherry tomato halves.

Bake in the oven for 60 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Soba & Spinach Soup

This soup is really fast and easy to cook, but it's also very delicious. I especially love the savoury and salty taste of the buckwheat soba and it harmonises perfectly with the sweet carrots and the earthy spinach.

By the way, I really love spinach. It's my favourite veget ... wait ... I already said that about carrots. But really, I love both of them and can't decide which one I like better. So, my favorite vegetables are carrot and spinach. And avocados. And egglpant. And ... some more ;)

For 4 Servings: 

• 750 ml vegetable stock
• 200 g spinach leaves (fresh or frozen)
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 3 bunches buckwheat soba noodles (you can buy these in any Japanese supermarket)

In a small pot heat water and add a pinch of salt. When it's boiling, add the soba and cook until al dente (about 2-3 minutes).

In another pot, heat the vegetable stock. When it's boiling, add the spinach and the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Put the soba on soup plates and add the soup. 

Enjoy! 

Cream of Carrot & Pepper Soup

My favourite vegetable are carrots - and I really love this creamy carrot soup. It's sweet and salty, spicy and keeps you warm on a cold winter's day.

I got this recipe from my host mum Sarah in England. I lived with her family in Cornwall when I went to school there many many years ago.

For 3-4 servings:

• 4 large carrots, grated
• 3/4 litre vegetable stock
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon pickled green peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 pods star anise
• 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 4 tablespoons soy cream (you can use normal cow's milk cream of course, but soy cream tastes slightly different and I think it's better with this soup)

In a large cooking pot, cook carrots, peppercorns and vegetable soup until the carrots are soft. Purée the mixtrue using a blender. Put back into the cooking pot, add honey, cinnamon stick, star anise, tumeric, cardamom and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Stir in the soy cream. You can add some extra soy cream and some strips of carrot for decoration.

Enjoy your meal!

Caffè Latte with Nougat & Spices

This is a perfect winter drink: sweet, warm and flavoursome. 

For two glasses:

• 1/3 glass almond drink (almond milk)
• 1/3 glass milk
• 30 grams nougat 
• 1 teasppon brown sugar
• 2 very short espresso ("ristretto")
• 1/2 teaspoon coffee spice
• 1 star anise
• 4 pods green cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• (ground cinnamon for decoration)

In a small cooking pot, heat almond drink, sugar, espressos, coffee spice, star anise, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Cut nougat into small pieces. When the mixture is boiling, add the nougat and stir until dissolved. 

In another small pot, heat the milk and whip to make some milk froth. 

Pour the almond-nougat-mixture in glasses, add milk and milk froth and sprinke with ground cinnamon. 

Enjoy!

Spices

I usually buy pices at Gewürzdepot in Passau, Germany, because they have the best tasting spices and blends of spices ever. But of course, you can also mix those blends yourself.

These are the recipes of the spice blends I use in this blog:

Coffee Spice

1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder.

Cinnamon & Orange Cookies

"Come to the dark side, we have cookies!"

Winter is coming fast and cold, so what's better than sitting in your warm living room with a cup of tea and some cookies?

These cookies are not the prettiest, but very fast and easy to make and they taste delicious.

I found the original recipe in a web forum and modified it a little bit - the original was without cinnamon and orange, but with raisins.